
Photo: J.M.Garg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Butastur teesa
Diet
Insects and small vertebrates
Habitat
Plains, up to about 1,000–1,200m in the Himalayan foothills
Clutch size
Usually 3 white eggs
Incubation period
About 19 days
The white-eyed buzzard is a medium-sized, slim, small hawk, distinct from the true buzzards of the genus Buteo. It is easily identified by its white iris and by a white throat with a dark central stripe, and adults have a rufous tail. The head is brown and the median coverts of the upper wing are pale. When perched, the wing tip nearly reaches the tip of the tail. Young birds have a brownish iris, a whitish forehead and sometimes a broad eyebrow (Wikipedia, general species account).
It sits upright on perches for long periods and soars on thermals in search of insects and small vertebrates, and is vociferous in the breeding season, when several birds may be heard calling as they soar together. The usual clutch is three white, usually unspotted eggs; both sexes build the nest and feed the young, while the female alone incubates for about 19 days (Wikipedia, general species account).